


The Underdogs

by StellarGrrl



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: AU, Aged up!Five, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Boarding School, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Mental Health Issues, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-06 03:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19054702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellarGrrl/pseuds/StellarGrrl
Summary: Five years after being expelled, Vanya returns to the Umbrella Academy – a prestigious boarding school, with a notorious reputation. Vanya expected her return to be difficult, but not this difficult. Especially when she is assigned the popular, but arrogant Five as a math tutor, things seem as if they can’t get any worse.But as old secrets begin to emerge, both Vanya and Five learn that the past doesn’t stay hidden forever.[Boarding school, no powers AU].





	The Underdogs

**Author's Note:**

> This is completely not beta-ed. Every mistake and flaw is my own.

If anything, this day so far had proven to Vanya just how woefully underprepared she was.

For one thing, she was running late – _no, check that, running_ very _late_ – Vanya’s inner monologue informed her, as she dashed by a stately grandfather clock that was already chiming. At the sound, students, who were already loitering around the corridors, began to lazily saunter to their classes, chatting and laughing. Their slow movement became another obstacle to Vanya, as she half walked, half ran to the school office.

“Sorry!” Vanya breathed, “Didn’t mean to hit off you! Sorry!”

Whether it was because of her fast pace in a sea of slow-moving bodies, or because of how she accidently elbowed a passing student, Vanya could feel their idle stares all over her. Keeping her gaze to the floor, Vanya quickened her step.

“Who’s the new girl?” she could hear a student ask.

“A new girl? I wonder if –”

“So, I guess we’re letting in anyone now –”

“Wait, isn’t that –”

Vanya’s face was reddening. What a way to remind herself of exactly how painfully bad an idea this was. Of course the students would talk about her, even when she had just walked by them. This was the Umbrella Academy – a school as famous for its achievements, as it was notorious for exclusivity. From kindergarten, these kids were schooled to think they were the best of the best – _which, truthfully, they probably are. Doesn’t make them any less holier-than-thou, egotistical, know-it-alls_.

The number of students standing in Vanya’s way lessened as she neared the Assistant Principal’s office. Most were now in class, though Vanya imagined she could still hear their snide remarks, whispered in quietened tones to each other. Vanya’s face burned red at the thoughts of it. With one hand clenched, and the other tugging anxiously at her school uniform (an old nervous habit; one she thought she had grown out of), Vanya knocked on the office door.

There was no answer, at least, not immediately. Shuffling on her feet, Vanya waited. She wondered if maybe they hadn’t heard her knock, and perhaps she should knock again. A small, but very loud part of Vanya also speculated whether this was her chance to escape. She could turn back, exit the building, pretend that everything was perfectly fine, and forget that the Umbrella Academy ever existed. _That_ was a particularly tantalizing thought.

But, no. Her hesitation meant that her opportunity for escape had gone. Vanya could now hear the footsteps beyond the door and a creak as the door opened.

“Vanya, welcome. You’re very nearly late!” said a woman, her voice and appearance all too familiar. It was Grace.

Grace, who even after Vanya’s years of absence from the school, looked the same as ever. From the 50’s style dress (which was light pink today) and hair-do (set to the back, and pinned fashionably), to her always-present smile, it was if time had left Grace untouched. Seeing Grace in this way gave Vanya a sense of unease, but it was Grace’s smile that made Vanya feel the most unsettled. The smile was at once pretty, but vapid and sad; so much so, that as soon as Vanya saw it, memories of early childhood came flashing back to mind. The memories made Vanya flinch.

Grace beckoned Vanya into the office. Taking a breath, Vanya briefly pinched her eyes shut before deciding to follow.

“Please, take a seat,” Grace instructed.

Vanya did as she was asked and placed her schoolbag on the ground beside her. The chair was wooden, straight-backed, rigid, and closed-in at both sides. While the floral designed cushions offered some comfort, Vanya was left with the distinct impression that the chair was made to ensure students sat straight, with their gaze dead ahead. As Vanya settled into the seat, Grace gave Vanya an apologetic look, as though to say how sorry she was for how the seat was manufactured. “Principal Hargreeves designed this office, you know,” Grace said.

Vanya could have guessed as much.

Grace strolled gracefully behind to the desk that was the centre piece of the office. She took a seat in a chair that looked far more spacious than the one Vanya was sitting in and began to rifle through the papers on her desk.

“Let’s see, let’s see,” Grace murmured, as she passed from one page to another. “Oh! Here we go!” Grace had stopped and began to silently read what was presumably Vanya’s own student file. A minute or two passed.

Vanya kept her watch fixed on Grace, noting every crease in her expression and every “uh-hum,” she said. It was if Vanya’s heart was constricting at each second that passed. Vanya couldn’t deny the part of her that desperately wished Grace would flat-out tell her that there was no way she could be re-admitted to the Umbrella Academy.

Yet there was another part of Vanya that knew it was her most keenly felt desire to be one of the Umbrella Academy again, not an outsider, forever doomed to look in. And the chance to see long-gone, familiar faces…

Grace stopped reading. Her eyes met Vanya’s, peering over the papers she still held in her hands. “Well, Vanya,” she said, “We look forward to reacquainting ourselves with you.”

“You do?” Vanya answered quickly. _Too quickly_. “Uh – I mean, that’s great.”

“Yes, the Umbrella Academy is very happy to enrol you in our prestigious school once more. We believe you will be quite the asset! Especially since we hear you’re such a talented violinist.” Grace smiled.

“Thanks,” Vanya mumbled. She should have known that it was her violin that got her back to here. What else could it have been?

“But,” Grace said, inspecting Vanya’s student file again, “I think you may require extra tuition in some of your subjects.”

Vanya’s heart fell. Needing to complete extra tuition at the Umbrella Academy was social suicide. No one wanted to know the person who was falling behind the rest of them. After all, the Umbrella Academy was only for the best of the best. “In my last school my grades were better than average,” Vanya told Grace, praying that there was a mistake or misunderstanding somewhere in her school file.

“That was your last school, dear,” Grace replied, “ _this_ is the Umbrella Academy. So, I think it might be wise to arrange a student tutor for you.”

A _student_ tutor. Things were only getting worse.

“In math, you most definitely need a tutor,” Grace continued, oblivious to Vanya’s growing pain, “we can start from there. With the other subjects, there can be a discussion sometime later. Once you settle back in, maybe.”

Her world might as well be imploding. So much for a new, better start at the Umbrella Academy. Breathing deeply in, Vanya just managed to quietly ask, “ _Who – ?_ ”

Vanya was interrupted mid-sentence, with a sudden, sharp knock on the office door.

“Come in,” Grace called, her attention now seemingly wrapped in neatly tiding away Vanya’s school file onto the corner of the desk. For a split second, Vanya could have sworn that Grace gave Vanya the smallest of shrugs; whether in apology or humour, Vanya couldn’t have been sure.

He walked into the office with little politeness. “You called me...?” he said in a tone that half suggested how bored he was, while the other half suggested that he was biting back his measure of annoyance.

Bored and annoyed. Along with a certain amount of natural arrogance, no doubt. Those qualities forcibly brought to Vanya’s mind a memory of a specific boy.

Vanya, fighting the urge to swing around on the chair, shifted her head ever so slightly so that the new arrival would come into her view. She expected to see that boy; the boy who she could recall clearly, even after five years had passed. But she didn’t. Whereas Vanya imagined seeing a boy with combed dark hair, leaning back with playful arrogance while his hands were buried in his uniform’s pockets, she saw instead a young man.

Vanya figured him to be a final year student, so around eighteen. The same age as her. He was tall, almost lanky, with a build that couldn’t be described as either narrow or too big. Vanya noticed how he seemed strong, without being overly muscular. She could easily imagine that how someone like this could be popular – dark hair, bright eyes, with a handsome face? It would be difficult to _not_ be popular, Vanya reckoned. Regardless of any over confidence he possessed.

He ignored Vanya’s presence completely and addressed only Grace. Vanya couldn’t blame him. Though she had a small view of him from between the strands of hair falling to her face, for the most part her body remained as positioned towards the desk, opposite the door. Still, her view of him, limited as it was, drove her body to tension. Her hands clutched together, then unclutched, while the heat of embarrassment was burning through her face yet again.

_Five._

_It’s Five._

_Of all the ways to torture me, why in hell does Five have to be here?_

“You agreed to be a student tutor, Five,” Grace said, beamingly, “I thought it was best to introduce you two at the start of semester. You can get to know each other, be friends, and come to an arrangement among yourselves.”

“So, I’m supposed to tutor her, the new kid,” Five said, and Vanya could see him indicating to point out _her_. “great. Just great.” The sarcasm in his voice was frustratingly familiar.

All too soon, Vanya was wishing she could sink deeper into her chair. She just _knew_ that Grace was about seconds away from naming Vanya to Five. “You already agreed to it, Five,” Grace stated, a touch sternly, “don’t you want the extra credit? And _Vanya_ would greatly appreciate some help with her math, I’m sure.”

_Of course she did_.

With gritted teeth and sucked in air, Vanya found the strength to slowly turn around. It took all her deliberate will to face Five – the boy she used to know, the man she didn’t.

Vanya had no reason to feel ashamed or embarrassed, she knew that. Her anxiety was entirely down to her own melted emotions. Though her emotions were boiling over regardless, filling Vanya with equal amounts of worry, trepidation, anger, and hope, she knew she had to look at Five head on. She needed to try to fathom and understand what he was thinking of as he now noticed her.

Whatever Vanya thought she would see written on Five’s expression; it wasn’t this. He was regarding Vanya coolly, without as much as a flicker of recognition. The cold disregard made Vanya’s heart constrict painfully.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Five said, dispassionately. “My only free time is on Tuesday afternoons. 3p.m. Does that suit?” His last question was directed towards her, but Vanya guessed that if she said _no_ to Tuesday afternoon Five wouldn’t make himself available at any other time.

Before Vanya could vocalise an answer to Five’s non-question, Grace already provided one for her. “That’s wonderful! Vanya is free on Tuesday afternoons for the rest of semester.”

Five nodded in reply. “Great,” he scowled. “Is this conversation over? I’ve history class.”

“Yes, you can go, dear,” said Grace, with a wave of her hand. “Vanya and I only have a few more things to discuss.”

Five didn’t bother to provide any parting remarks. Swinging his school bag to his back, he already was closing the office door behind him as soon as Grace had spoken. “That went well, didn’t it?” Grace asked Vanya.

Vanya couldn’t quite articulate an answer – she was swimming in the depths of old memories and new, unwanted thoughts.

Grace continued for some time, informing Vanya of what classes she would be attending and what was to be expected from Vanya since she was a readmitted student. Finishing by pressing a personalized timetable into Vanya’s hand, Grace then stood. “Principal Hargreeves has high hopes for you, Vanya, and as do I. We hope you become an addition to our student body here at the Umbrella Academy.” Grace didn’t have to add _be an addition like you weren’t before_. But Vanya could hear the words, anyway.

Wishing Vanya good luck and goodbye, Grace made the motion that Vanya was free to leave. Vanya stood up, picked her schoolbag from the floor, and left the office. She could imagine how Grace was by now ringing Principal Hargreeves on the phone to inform him of all.

Safely outside of the office, she took one deep breath, followed by another and counted to seven in her mind – like how they taught her in her former school. For the first time, Vanya believed she would miss her old school. While there, she hadn’t felt so alone.

The steady breathing calmed Vanya to a degree. Looking up, Vanya reminded herself that she had classes to attend and things to do. Perhaps sometime later she could play her violin and bring about some peace to her scattered thinking.

Vanya needed some peace of mind. Especially since seeing Five after those years…

It had been five years when they last were together. Even after five years, it was something to realise that no matter what affect he still held over her, she had none on him. Maybe it was that realisation that would help Vanya readjust to life at the Umbrella Academy.

“Keep the past in the past.” Vanya said out loud, allowing the mantra to play on repeat in her mind.

_Things could hardly get much worse, could they?_

**Author's Note:**

> So, over the past number of days that I've been writing this, I've been experiencing a sort of mental torture on what to rate this fic as. There is and will be a description of mental health issues in what I write, but by and large, most things in this fic are gonna be fairly safe. Which meant that by the end writing this first chapter, I decided on a teen rating. I'm still undecided whether that is the best option, so please be aware that this fic might go up to a mature rating, but no higher than that. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope someone out there enjoyed reading this! I am always over the moon whenever people comment, send kudos, etc. And thanks again!


End file.
